1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing equipment having communication capabilities and capable of executing communication protocol processing at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information processing equipment capable of communicating with a host processor and processing both the communication and the subsequent information has been utilized in various fields. Some examples of information processing equipment having communication capabilities are an online terminal, a data base server, and a multimedia terminal.
An arrangement of conventional information processing equipment having communication capabilities will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
First and second information processing equipment having communication capabilities (hereinafter referred to as simply first and second information processing equipment) is illustrated in FIG. 1.
The first information processing equipment 1 comprises a main processor (hereinafter referred to as MP) 11, a communication control processor (hereinafter referred to as CP) 13 connected to the MP 11 by way of a system bus 12. A transmitter and receiver controller (hereinafter referred to as TRC) 15 is connected to the CP 13 by way of a local bus 14.
The MP 11 comprises a main processor for processing an application which is previously set by the first information processing equipment 1. The CP 13 comprises a known communication control processor for processing a communication protocol which is received or sent by a communication line 16. The TRC 15 executes the circuit-related processing of the communication protocol. The TRC 15 comprises a communication control Large Scale Integrated (LSI) Circuit for reassembling and deblocking the message and effecting a serial/parallel conversion. The LSI circuit also comprises a driver/receiver for matching a signal format in the information processing equipment 1 with a signal format on the communication line 16 and the like.
The components of the first information processing equipment 1 execute the circuit-related processing, the communication protocol processing and the application processing.
These levels of processing will be described with reference to seven layers of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model stipulated by International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The circuit-related processing corresponds to the first and second layers and the communication protocol processing corresponds to the third to seventh layers (refer to FIG. 2). The application processing means processes data which is delivered to the information processing equipment 1, which may include data processing relating to a data base, word processor, or business calculation.
The second information processing equipment 2 comprises an MP 21 and a TRC 23 connected to the MP 21 by way of a system bus 22. The TRC 23 is the same as the TRC 15. The MP 21 comprises a processor having both the functions of the MP 11 and the CP 13 of the first information processing equipment 1. That is, the MP 21 executes both the application processing and the communication protocol processing.
Operations of the first and second information processing equipment 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are illustrations showing the method of receiving a message. FIG. 3(a) illustrates the operation of the first information processing equipment 1 and FIG. 3(b) illustrates the operation of the second information processing equipment 2.
In the case of the first information processing equipment 1 as illustrated in FIG. 3(a), when the TRC 15 receives a message from the communication line 16 (Step S1), it notifies the CP 13 of the completion of receiving the message by way of the local bus 14 (Step S2). The CP 13, upon reception of this information, executes the communication protocol processing (Step S3) and notifies, upon completion of the execution thereof, the MP 11 of the completion of the message receiving processing (Step S4). The MP 11, upon reception of this information, executes the application processing (Step S5).
In the case of the second information processing equipment 2 as illustrated in FIG. 3(b), when the TRC 23 receives a message from the communication line 24 (Step S11), it notifies the MP 21 of the completion of receiving the message by way of the system bus 22 (Step S12). The MP 21, upon reception of this information, executes the communication protocol processing (Step S13) and thereafter the application processing (Step S14).
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are illustrations showing the method of sending a message. FIG. 4(a) illustrates the operation of the first information processing equipment 1 and FIG. 4(b) illustrates the operation of the second information processing equipment 2.
In the case of the first information processing equipment 1 as illustrated in FIG. 4(a), assume that there occurred the necessity of sending a message on the communication line 16 as a result of the application processing by the MP 11 (Step S21). In this case, the MP 11 sends a transmission processing instruction to the CP 13 (Step S22). The CP 13, upon reception of this instruction, executes the communication protocol processing for the message to be sent (Step S23) and sends a message transmission instruction to the TRC 15 (Step S24). The TRC 15, upon reception of this instruction, reassembles the message to match the standard format of the communication line 16 and thereafter sends the message (Step S25).
In the second information processing equipment 2 as illustrated in FIG. 4(b), assume that there occurred the necessity of sending a message on the communication line 24 as a result of the application processing by the MP 21 (Step S31). In this case, the MP 21 executes the communication protocol processing (Step S32) for the message to be sent and thereafter sends a transmission instruction to the TRC 23 (Step S33). The TRC 23, upon reception of this instruction, reassembles the message to match the standard format of the communication line 24 and thereafter sends the message (Step S34).